Management practices that support retention in South African inbound call centres

Abstract:

The turnover of call centre agents in South Africa is higher than in most other industries. The costs incurred to retain agents versus the replacement costs of an agent are massive. This research focused on inbound call centre agents and the perception of five management practises which were compared with both managers and agents in two large call centres. The five management practises tested were communication, call centre structure, performance management, recruitment and selection, and training and development. These five practises impacted on the agents’ intention to leave by 36%. A non-probability sampling method was used to select a sample of inbound call centre agents; a total of 82 agents were surveyed. Regression, stepwise selection, Wilcoxon Scores Rank Sum test, Pearson and Spearman correlation tests were some of the tools used to interpret the survey. The research concluded that communication had the strongest correlation with an agent’s intention to leave. Communication had the best combination of a matching variable to be predicted on a stepwise selection. The research further showed that the managers’ and call centre agents’ perception differs to the extent that managers believe sufficient communication is made to keep call centre agents satisfied, and this is contrary to the agents perception. Interesting to note is that 82% of the agents have considered leaving their organisation at some point, 63% of the employees do not want to be working at their current employer in the next year, and 53% had considered leaving within the past three months. This research has contributed to the body of knowledge. Organisations and managers are well positioned to direct their focus to specific management practises identified in the research which will assist them in retaining call centre agents.